office renovations: before, during & after

Renovations to our downstairs began in April 2013, when we decided to turn the bedroom into an office/front entryway. We also decided to add a hallway and re-configure some doorways so the bathroom would no longer be an ensuite. We started gutting the bathroom and our former bedroom.  The whole process was finally completed in the fall of 2014. Here's a look at how it all went down:

gutting the former bedroom and bathroom

former basement entrance

The new temporary trap door to the basement (via the kitchen)....

...allows for the former entrance to be closed up, creating a new hallway

The former basement door became the perfect spot for a cute little window

The addition of a front door provided a private entrance (perfect for our home businesses), as well as some extra light in the office

new sub floor, electrical, and insulation

drywall

fresh paint

Then we took a break from the office renovations, because we had to move our kitchen and living room into the office while we gutted and renovated those two rooms. Our entire downstairs living area consisted of our little office all summer long!

office and living room

 The fourth office wall had not been drywalled previously because we knew it had to be torn out anyway when we renovated the adjoining living room. 

temporary cooking area

newly framed wall with soundproofing

final wall drywalled

Finally, the kitchen and living room renovations were finished and we could move all the kitchen stuff out of the office. Boy, did it seem large! We added some wainscotting to match the bathroom, hung some curtains, and voila--our office was ready for tutoring students.

Here's a look at some "AFTER" pictures of our mostly finished office:

south wall

west wall

east and north walls

happy birthday, girlies!

My adorable nieces, Molly Georgina and Lola Julianna turned 2 yesterday. From the moment they found out they were expecting twin girls, my sister-in-law and family have experienced a crazy couple of years, full of surprises-- including delivering the twins via C-Section at 32 weeks. I'm sure they never have imagined this is where life would take them--but I know they wouldn't trade it for the world. 

And my, how they've grown since then!

One Year Old!

Two years old!

Raising twin girls (and homeschooling a big brother) has been no small feat! I am so proud of my sister-in-law for everything she has accomplished so far, and for how much she has grown as a person over these past couple of years. Although she would be the first to admit that she's far from perfect, she remains an inspiration to me. (You can view part of her testimony HERE under the "Real Life Stories" tab... and maybe one day, I will have the privilege of sharing more of her story here.)

In honour of their birthday, their mom posted a link to a Music/Video Presentation that beautifully captures the girls' first 8 months through photos. It played at their baptism on Mother's Day (and brought most of the congregation to tears.)

So Happy Birthday, Molly and Lola! 
We love you. 
xoxo

farmer dan

"...He just takes the tractor another round
And pulls the plow across the ground
And sends up another prayer.
He says, 'Lord I never complain, I never ask why,
But please don't let my dream run dry
Underneath this
[Prince Edward County] sky.' " 

-Jason Aldean

**************************************

For the first time in nearly five years, a Dykstra has cut, raked, and baled hay on Cherrie Side Farms. Since my dad's illness and eventual passing in 2010, we have rented out our farmland to two local farmers. Now, 58 years to the day that my grandfather first arrived on this farm, my "little" brother decided to continue the family legacy.

With some encouragement, he took it upon himself to ready the machinery, and then proceed to cut, rake, and bale a field of hay this year.  I was am still bursting with pride that this shy, quiet, gentle-giant-of-a-brother chose to take a leap of faith and embark on a new adventure. 

Watching this part of him come fully alive while on the tractor, was enough for this big sister to get a little misty-eyed. In case you can't already tell, I love this kid and I'm so ridiculously proud of how far he's come in the past few years. 

He's a look at the whole process through the lens of my camera:

Checking everything over on the haybine before heading out.

First round.

A beautiful sight.

Nothing quite like a freshly-cut field of hay!

The rake stands ready.

First round.

Raking the windrows to get the bottom grass dry.

His first bale!

A watchful eye.

A born farmer!

Loading up before the rain.

Brothers at work.

We got the hay in before the rain, and true to form, my brother gave away the whole truckload to a neighbour in need. Now that he's shown everyone (including himself) what he can accomplish, we are excited to see what next summer will bring. 

Thank you to those of you who have encouraged him along the way. Your support means so much!

living room renovations - part 1

For the past month and a half, we have pretty much been eating, sleeping, and breathing renovations. This is the last (and most expensive stressful messy invasive) of them, involving most of our downstairs. Because I haven't been getting many days of work (the school year almost being over), this translates into me sitting in the office listening to the contractors on the other side of the plastic wall all.day.long (not to mention a severe decrease in cash flow at precisely the worst time.) True to form, I have not been handling it all that well, but I am hopeful that the worst is over. 

Here's a look at where we started, and how the whole process is going:

And because we aren't crazy enough, we are renovating the living room at the same time as the kitchen.

The "pink vagina room" (as my hubby not-so-affectionately called it) is no more!

Dan and Adam, being the amazing guys that they are, volunteered their time over the long weekend (who does that?!?) to help us complete the gutting. Bringing down the lath-and-plaster ceiling, strapping, and a layer of drywall was the worst part! (Don't worry, we compensated them for their time and efforts.)

We removed the original layers of floor (yes, there's our new water heater, pressure tank, sediment filter, and UV light - all installed by my super-handy hubby!)...

...as well as all the joists, most of the staircase, and the spray-foam insulation that was in the way.  In doing so, we completely cut off all access to the second storey.

So for a week, we climbed the ladder on to the roof and entered our bedroom via the window. (Let me tell you: it's not all it's cracked up to be in the movies!)

Finally we got the new floor joists installed.

Once we got the sub-floor installed, we could use the ladder indoors. (And by dropping the floor, we've gained over 4" of ceiling height...pretty significant when the ceiling we started with, was a mere 6'11"--not up to code for our woodstove!)

We sister-ed new joists to the original beams from 1880, creating a sturdy, (and level!) surface to work with for the new ceiling.  And finally, the walls got framed!

For the past two weekends, cousin Derek came from Toronto to work on our heating and cooling system.  (FYI: to our friends in the GTA, Derek's company is called DTB Heating Services....we highly recommend him.) Thanks to Derek, we now have central air, and brand new duct-work throughout the whole house!

Next week, my handy hubby will be ready to start the electrical work in the living room, and after that, it's time for insulation.  (Eventually, I imagine we will get some brand new stairs too.) Over the past 6+ weeks, there were times when I thought I would never be able to make it through another day. Yet looking back, we have truly gotten a tremendous amount of work done! 

And one day soon, we will have something that looks like this:

Stay tuned!

spring 2014 in photos